Kyrgystan Delegation Visits James City County

In early October, a delegation of five government and civic leaders from the Republic of Kyrgyzstan recently visited the James City County Board Room for a presentation and discussion of County government by Board of Supervisors member John McGlennon and County Administrator Sandy Wanner. The visit was part of an eight day stay in the Williamsburg James City County area hosted by the Rotary Club of James City County.

The visitors were part of the Open World Program enacted by Congress and managed by the independent Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress. This program is designed to enhance understanding and capabilities for cooperation between the United States and the countries of Eurasia and the Baltic States by developing a network of leaders who have gained firsthand exposure to America’s democratic, accountable government and free-market system.

In addition to the meeting with Mr. McGlennon and Mr. Wanner, they met with Officer Diggs of the James City County Police, Janet Weaver of the Juvenile Detention Center, and Williamsburg Mayor Jeanne Zeidler. They also met with Deputy Commonwealth Attorney Sandra Conyers and with Robert Baldwin, Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the National Center for State Courts.

The delegates were Bekbolot Bekiev, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice; Earnest Zhanaev, Project Coordinator for Voice of Freedom; Adylbek Sharshenbaev, Department head for the Kyrgyz Republic National Agency for Preventing Corruption; Dinara Sayakove, Director of the Independent Human Rights Group, a non-governmental organization; and the group facilitator, Jenishbek Arzymatov, staff attorney for the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative in Kyrgyzstan